One way to be happy with the reps that call on your store is to train them yourself, according to Mike Peters, CEO of CarpetsPlus of Wisconsin. “In the last 11 years or so, five staff members left our stores to take jobs as reps,” Peters explained. “Gary Pinckney left this past fall and now works for Future Foam. Alan Bergstrom left in 2002 and is now a Dal-Tile rep. Jay Polack left in 2010 and works for All Tile. Jack Finkel left in 2003 and is now a Mohawk hard surfaces rep and Mike Wanta left in 2012 and is now a territory manager for Jaeckle Distributors. Each of them worked for us more than 10 years,” Peters reported.

While these future reps worked at CarpetsPlus of Wisconsin, they grew in experience, moving into management or sales positions and left for reasons like Gary Pinckney, whose wife had to move for her job so he moved too, according to Peters. “They were exposed to various Alliance Flooring functions and now call on us as ‘alumni’ that understand flooring retail culture and the need for profitability,” he explained.

The five reps that are former employees have an advantage over other reps. “It is fabulous having these gentlemen calling on CarpetsPlus,” said Peters. “They have the full understanding of our culture and practices when presenting product, training, handling claims, payables or whatever task that is thrown their way in the course of representing their product line to our current team. I am honored to have introduced them to the industry and further honored to patronize them and the companies they so diligently represent. In that process they win, our current associates win and most importantly our mutual customers, the end users, win,” he stated.